How Cambridge MC is Helping to Recognise Global Talent

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At Cambridge Management Consulting (Cambridge MC), we pride ourselves on our ability to channel decades of hands-on experience across the telecommunications, technology, sustainability, and government sectors into learned and insightful guidance, allowing other organisations to produce tangible and steadfast results. Of the numerous case studies on our website which detail the work our partners have completed for different organisations, seven were completed in 2023 alone, a repertoire which is further substantiated by a number of partnerships, projects, and joint ventures which we have engaged in this year (which can be read about here) – the most recent of which involved implementing submarine cable work for the Cayman Islands Government to strengthen their international connectivity.

However, as a people-focused company, we also understand that true consultancy and improvement does not stop at offering advice or providing recommendations, it is about acknowledging and rewarding those that display talent, integrity, and creativity; those that strive for impact and follow through. Support is two-fold: it is constructive criticism, and it is positive reinforcement, and the business world is no different.

When we started in 2018 as a consultancy designed to support the growth of start-ups and scale-ups in Cambridge, UK, we built ourselves on recognising the importance of innovation and determination for maintaining a successful and influential organisation. Now, as we close 2023 with offices in six countries and more expansion on the horizon, we celebrate three opportunities that we have been given in the last quarter of this year that not only reflect our own dedication to these principles over the last five years, but have allowed us to honour others who uphold the same.

In this article, we look at the three judging panels that we have recently occupied, and how they affirm our belief that good business should be rewarded. 

October: Tim Passingham and the Capacity Global Carrier Awards

Established in 2000 and now boasting a vast portfolio of magazines and large-scale global events (numerous of which our consultants have been in attendance), Capacity Media prides itself on being an essential source of news and developments within the telecommunications sector. Its recent headlines span anywhere between relevant market updates, such as Jack Haddon’s latest piece on the partnership between Jaguar Land Rover and Tata Communications to produce the next generation of electric vehicles, to important social commentary, such as Nadine Hawkins’ ‘Why mentorship is key to closing the gender gap’.

Tim Passingham, Chairman of Cambridge MC, was first asked to be a member of the judging panel of Capacity Media’s annual Global Carrier Awards in 2018, making this year his sixth year running contributing to the event. With over 25 years in telecommunications including senior executive roles at BT, Level 3Communications (now Lumen) and Colt, Tim is the Chairman of Cambridge Management Consulting, Chairman of the UK AltNet Lightning Fibre, and Chairman of the IoT company Iknaia. This makes him a well-equipped industry expert and ideal member of Capacity’s telco-focused awards ceremony.

This year, the event took place at the Indigo at The O2 in London on the 18th October, and saw the most entries that the ceremony has ever received: a record-breaking 238. The 37 different awards that an organisation can nominate themselves for and hope to win span categories such as ‘Global & Regional’ including awards that assess an organisation for its wide-reaching impact; ‘Innovation & Technology’, for which companies can present their latest technologies addressing services such as Anti-Fraud, Data Centre and Edge, Mobile/5G, and more; ‘Projects’, for those engaged in beneficial and influential contracts and projects; and others. (To see the full list of categories, and the winners of this year’s awards, click here.)

Each submission was evaluated by representatives from Capacity’s 400-person judging panel, of which Tim oversaw multiple, on a 5-point grading criteria, which analyses the extent to which each application comprehensively addressed its chosen category, presented relevant examples, and was expressed with fluency. The panel is chaired by Carl Roberts, Partner of Hadaara Consulting, who, when asked to summarise the Global Carrier Awards in three words, highlighted its principles of ‘Grandiose, Celebration, and Achievement’.

Tim Passingham said: ‘I am not only honoured to have been a member of the judging panel for this year’s Global Carrier Awards, but proud to have been asked to participate for the sixth year in a row. Capacity Media achieve excellent work for the telecommunications sector, so I welcomed the opportunity to give back, and the awards ceremony was a brilliant event as always.’

November: Meredith Sharples and the 25th Annual ISPA Awards

Standing for the Internet Services Providers’ Association, ISPA aims to promote collaboration and dialogue within the UK internet industry for the benefit of the economy and wider society. Primarily, they achieve this by making representations on behalf of the industry to Government bodies such as the Home Office, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and Ofcom, representatives of which are often the ones to approach ISPA for their collective and renowned expertise. 

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the awards, providing an opportunity for ISPA to celebrate longevity, not only of the organisation itself, but for the exponential growth and advancement experienced by the internet industry in the last quarter of a century. Steve Leighton, Chairman of ISPA, described the first ceremony as ‘a lowkey affair with a handful of attendees’, and Dana Tobak, CEO of Hyperoptic, listed its initial awards as including ‘Best DialUp, Best Internet Portal, Best Search’ etc. Now, the event sells out venues seating over 400 industry experts – this year taking place at the new London Raffles Hotel at the Old War Offices – with awards including ‘Best Channel Support’, as well as the ‘Best Infrastructure’ and ‘Best Consumer’ categories, and more. ‘As the industry has changed,’ said Hare, ‘the awards have changed.’

Chaired by Andrew Fergus, Editor at thinkbroadband.com, Meredith Sharples, Managing Partner at Cambridge MC, was asked to be a member of this year’s judging panel due to his continued and remarkable achievements within the telecommunications industry, spanning over 20 years. Specifically, ISPA’s profile on Meredith highlights and celebrates his successful launch of Vodafone’s fixed broadband market entry in the UK in 2014, resulting in rapid growth and an innovative customer proposition, as well his four-year position leading the Post Office Telecoms business, cultivating it into one of the largest broadband and fibre-focused ISPs.

Of the awards ceremony, which this year took place on the 9th November, Meredith Sharples said: ‘I am honoured to have been asked to judge at the 25th Annual ISPA awards, recognised as one of the leading independent awards ceremonies.’

December: Duncan Clubb and the DCD>Global Awards

Started in 1998, Data Center Dynamics (DCD) are a global media outlet who have been publishing content and hosting annual events, in which our consultants have participated, exclusively for the data centre industry for well over twenty years. With articles and updates researched and written by a team of experts whose knowledge and experience span the data centre, cloud, and edge infrastructure ecosystems, DCD’s insights span between shorter updates, such as Paul Lipscombe’s look into Huawei building their first European factory next year, to longer pieces such as Sebastian Moss’ ‘How Meta redesigned its data centers for the AI era’. 

Taking place this year on the 6th December in Westminster, London, DCD’s annual industry awards ceremony, the DCD>Global Awards, has so far dedicated 17 years to ‘recognizing the best people, projects, and teams who put innovation at the heart of this vibrant industry sector’. Each year sees hundreds of applicants nominate themselves across 17 different categories, all designed to celebrate different achievements and areas of the data centre industry. This year in particular, DCD introduced seven new awards, including the ‘Environmental Impact Award’, acknowledging an increasingly relevant global concern, and the ‘Young Mission Critical Engineer of the Year’, which aims to motivate and reward a new generation of industry experts. (For a full list of awards, click here.)

DCD writes that ‘it’s the strength of our judging panel that makes us the data center award-to-win, comprised of recognized experts from all the technical domains and disciplines’, and this year Duncan Clubb, Senior Partner of Cambridge MC and expert in Data Centres, Edge, and Cloud, was honoured to join this circle. Throughout his career, Duncan has worked on the data centre infrastructure of numerous organisations including JP Morgan Chase, RBS, the Bank of England, and provided advisory services to the many clients of CBRE, thus making him more than equipped to contribute to this year’s panel.

Specifically, Duncan was on the panel to select the winner for the ‘Edge Data Center Project of the Year’ award, targeted toward ‘projects that can demonstrate a unique and strategic approach as to how a successful Edge deployment is designed, set up and operated’, with a specific emphasis on innovation. This year, the winner of this award was NextDC for their project ‘Smart Mining at the Extreme Edge PH1 Port Hedland Data Centre’; this project aimed to implement the ultra-low-latency infrastructure and safer operations typically found in major cities, to the more remote areas of Western Australia. 

Duncan Clubb said: ‘DCD does great work bringing awareness and insight to the Data Centre industry through its publications and numerous fantastic events. I was honoured to be asked to help judge this year’s ‘Edge Data Center Project of the Year’ award, of which NextDC were more than deserving.’

A Rewarding Year

The Global Carrier Awards, the ISPA Awards, and the DCD Global Awards have all marked fantastic opportunities for our partners to celebrate and give back to the industries they have excelled in throughout their working lives. It is easy to look forward in one’s career: to the next project, the next year, the next promotion, but this does not always give time to look back. Thus, joining these various judging panels has provided a moment to reflect and rewind through a year’s worth of work and industry milestones.

However, this does not just represent a chance to celebrate the work of others; if anything, being invited to join a judging panel, especially across multiple years, is the greatest award of all. It reaffirms Cambridge MC’s status as an intelligent and seasoned team of industry experts, with the knowledge, experience, and innovation to recognise and reward it in others. 

About Cambridge Management Consulting

Cambridge Management Consulting (Cambridge MC) is an international consulting firm that helps companies of all sizes have a better impact on the world. Founded in Cambridge, UK, initially to help the start-up community, Cambridge MC has grown to over 150 consultants working on projects in 20 countries.

Our capabilities focus on supporting the private and public sector with their people, process and digital technology challenges.

For more information visit www.cambridgemc.com or get in touch below.